Is Academic Twitter Dead?
The academic community erupted in response to Elon Musk taking over Twitter (now X), with many anticipating an end to Academic Twitter. Two years later, we're still here. So...?
A few weeks ago, Bluesky opened its doors to the public. This social media platform was destined to be the outlet for users abandoning Twitter in the wake of its transformation to X. Academics were especially optimistic about the platform. Although Bluesky has grown rapidly since then — with almost 5 million users to date — it is still nowhere near replacing X, which boasts 450+ million active users.
So, are academics really leaving Twitter? And, if so, where did they go?
We dive into these questions in this week’s newsletter, looking at the state of Academic Twitter, and examine the implications for the loss of these voices on the platform. Plus, we’ll look at the alternative platforms academics are trending towards and see which one stands a chance at filling the gap.
What’s Academic Twitter, and what happened to it?
Academic Twitter is the common phrase used to describe the scientific community and corresponding content on Twitter. The #AcademicTwitter tag appeared shortly after the platform started. The widespread adoption meant that Twitter was generally the primary social media choice for academics where they’d discuss research, share findings and stay up-to-date in their field.
That was the case until two years ago when Elon Musk acquired the site in 2022, rebranded it to X, and made some unpopular changes. Chief among these changes was the new account verification system which many users felt compromised the availability of reliable information. Although Musk’s decisions were based on premises of enabling free speech, some users strongly opposed these decisions, fearing the rise in misinformation and heightened aggression.
Many believed academics would abandon the platform, while others already anticipated the struggle of attempting to find a suitable replacement. After almost two years, these predictions indeed came to pass. Many academics left the platform. A recent survey of 9,200 scientists found that over half have reduced their time on X and 7% quit altogether. This begs the question, what now?
Abandoning Twitter: The repercussions
Some users left Twitter following the Musk changes, because they felt the platform failed to uphold their values. Although this motivation is understandable, the large-scale implications may mean that the overall impact could cause more harm than good. A drop in engaged users who focus on evidence-based reasoning and scientific inquiry could make the misinformation issues on the platform worse.
Some academics, like Timothy Caulfield, a science communicator and law scholar, wonders if this loss of experts can create “a massive echo chamber that can spread misinformation in a way that is very harmful to society?” Indeed, it may. Some researchers believe that misinformation is spreading even faster since the platform’s changes. Thus, the academics who left the platform because of these changes may have been the most critical users in counteracting the negative impact, if they had stayed active.
Without a competitive alternative, many academics jump ship only to find there is nowhere to swim. To date, no platform offers the same networking capabilities and reach into the academic community that were (and, to some degree, still are) achievable with Twitter. It also means the next generation of researchers need to either do what is good for their career and potentially compromise their values, or miss out on the benefits of large-scale networking.
Although the decline of the scientific community has certainly been felt, it continues to power on. Twitter itself still has 450+ million active users, and Academic Twitter continues, just at a smaller scale. Large accounts like AcademicChatter, The PhD Place, PhD Voice, and PhD Forum continue to remain active.
Nonetheless, many still anticipate some platform shift and are attempting to figure out when and where that will happen. We’ll take a look at some of the most promising alternatives next.
Twitter Alternatives
Although academics are leaving Twitter, it’s unclear where they are going and what platform will fill this burgeoning void. Below are some of the most discussed competitors and their estimated monthly active user (MAU) counts. The ✅ denotes platforms where the academic community appears to be trending towards, although not necessarily in significant numbers.
✅Bluesky (1.6 million MAU) : Some academics believe Bluesky to be the best replacement for Twitter. Originally operating on an invite-only scheme, the platform opened its doors to everyone earlier this month. Its novel algorithmic approach makes it appear more egalitarian, which some academics are happy to see. However, with just a couple million active users, it’s still a far cry from Twitter’s scale.
✅Mastodon (1 million MAU): Mastodon is an open source, decentralized social networking platform that grew in popularity following the Musk acquisition of Twitter. Although some academics find the platform appealing, it is also far from the scale necessary to compete with Twitter.
✅LinkedIn (310 million MAU): LinkedIn is the most competitive platform, in terms of active users and a similar community presence, but lacks the culture that Academic Twitter had. LinkedIn is viewed as more professional, and less apt to enable the casual and spontaneous discussions that Twitter enables. You’ll find a growing academic community, but with a greater focus on support and resources, rather than sharing work.
Substack Notes (35 million MAU): Substack Notes were, like Bluesky and Mastodon, released at the same opportune time, and appeared as another potential alternative to Twitter. Although the long-form Substack content does provide a compelling platform for academics to share ideas and gain notoriety, neither it nor Notes seems to be adopted by the academic community at large yet.
Threads (130 million MAU): Threads, released last year, was purported to be Twitter’s biggest competitor. Although it appears to compete with the scale of Twitter, the academic community has largely ignored it. Prominent academic accounts either don’t exist or are far from the follower count they have on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Note, other platforms like Spoutible and Spill, with under one million users, weren’t considered, due to their small volume.
Overall, although some of these platforms may seem like compelling options, none have effectively filled the gap left behind from the demise of Academic Twitter. LinkedIn, Mastodon, and Bluesky so far appear to be the most promising candidates, although none are yet functioning as fully-fledged “replacements”.
No platform has yet attained the same community engagement and scale as Twitter when it comes to serving an academic audience. But, if users continue to avoid Twitter, this might change. A continuous cascade of users switching over to these smaller platforms may eventually culminate in a fully-fledged academic community that doesn’t rely on Twitter.
Although Academic Twitter has undergone its share of struggles, it nonetheless continues to serve as a valuable centralized area where researchers can connect to one another and influence public discussion. As Professor Inger Mewburn, author of the Thesis Whisperer, puts it: “Academic Twitter was the experience of everybody in a very hierarchical system having a voice.” Although the community has seen a significant decline in participation and visibility over the last year or so, it has nonetheless continued to exist in the post-X world. What the future looks like and whether another platform will usurp it as the primary social media platform for academics remains to be seen.
Did you leave Academic Twitter? Where did you go? If you stayed, what do you think of it now?
Resources
What is Bluesky? Everything to know about the app trying to replace Twitter, Feb 2024
News Organizations Are Leaving Twitter. What About You?, Jan 2024
More thoughts on the enshittification of academic social media, Nov 2023
Void left by decline of academic Twitter ‘will be hard to fill’, Sept 2023
Thousands of scientists are cutting back on Twitter, seeding angst and uncertainty, Aug 2023
Environmental users abandoned Twitter after Musk takeover, Aug 2023
Column: Scientists used to love Twitter. Thanks to Elon Musk, they’re giving up on it, Aug 2023
8 facts about Americans and Twitter as it rebrands to X, July 2023
More Academics Take Flight From Twitter as Restrictions, Alternatives Grow, July 2023
Twitter just closed the book on academic research, July 2023
Misinformation superspreaders are thriving on Musk-owned Twitter, Feb 2023
Academics can easily leave Twitter’s town square, but it will be much harder for their institutions, Nov 2022
Twitter Will Lose More than 32 Million Users Worldwide by 2024 Amid Turmoil, Dec 2022
Great article! Thank you so much. I have been on academic twitter / AcademiX for a while and heard a lot about the rumours, but was too late to experience the old version of it myself.
In my experience since Musk took over things are more regulated. e.g. i cant mention substack accounts or the post will get effectively blocked. In that sense the loss of free speech is already lost to an extent.
Keep up the good work with this newsletter, Marina!
When you cite "misinformation," are you referring to scientific voices discussing topics that vary from a particular narrative or your narrative? Or, are you referring to the crackpots?
How can you accurately distinguish a scientific voice with a different interpretation of the data from a crackpot?